European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 30, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                H e a t t h amp sciences amps Ovatt Casey the front of the 51st combat support Hospital in Frankfurt Germany and be of As it looked around 1948.a bit of history comes to on end of Frankfurt Hospital closes doors by Craig Martin staff writer. He corridors that once housed 1,200 in patients Are fitting silent. It s possible to walk Down some hallways in the 51 St combat support Hospital in Frankfurt Germany look into offices and see nothing Buffa few phones on the floor and boxes packed with personal belongings ready to be moved. The Hospital known for Ages As the 97th general Hospital doses its doors Friday and becomes a local clinic after serving american Gas allies and their families from throughout Europe for nearly 50 years. The clinic will occupy the a and b wings so far there Are no plans for the rest of the Complex. The Dinic is slated to close for Good late next Spring. A the Hospital saw the birth of some 100,000 babies the first open heart surgery in Frankfurt the treatment of nearly 3,000 service members during the persian Cut War and a lot of changes to its physical Structure. The building dates to 1936, when the world was in the grips of depression. Adolf Hitler had formed the Rome Berlin Axis and sent German troops into the Rhineland defying the Versailles treaty. It was a year before the German occupation of Austria and the Munich pact it was two years before Hitler s troops invaded Poland. To prepare for Hitler s dream of conquering Europe the German ministry in Berlin ordered the construction of a m i Lita by Hospital 11 n Frankfurt it was to hold 300 Beds a. During peacetime and be capable of expanding to a 600-bed capacity in wartime without any structural changes. The plans were drawn up and in 1938 the Fuhrer directed the Hospital s construction. It was one of the most modern in Germany at the time. To economize on steel needed for the armament Industry the Hospital featured a unique construction technique steam pipes served both As heating elements and As reinforcement for the Cement Walls and ceiling. Construction was completed in 1939 in time for the invasion of Poland and the arrival of the first casualties. During the time the Hospital was occupied by the germans it was used As a 350-bed luxury Hospital for the German air Force the awing was used by patients with a prolonged recovery period and Allied prisoners needing hospitalization. The French were kept on the ground floor the americans on the second and the British on the third. Legend has it that this pattern developed because the germans had some respect for the French less for americans and the least for the British a the theory being bombings would inflict the greatest casualties on the upper  French got the ground floor because they did t participate in the air raids that destroyed Many German cities. Athe b Wing contained the recovery wards and psychiatric service while the c Wing was the main Wing around which the rest of the Hospital was built it contained operating rooms the continued on Page 16 to your health breakaway bases make baseball safer by Ira Dreyfuss the associated press its a hard slide into second and he a out out to a Hospital that is. A research and advocacy group says stationary bases which Are attached to posts in the ground Are a leading cause of injury to baseball and softball players. Replacing stationary bases with breakaway bases which snap off from their ground anchors could prevent most of these injuries according to the Institute for preventative sports Medicine. Quot the Standard stationary base is like a White Boulder Quot said or. David a Janda director of the Institute in Ann Arbor Mich. A we want folks to play softball and baseball but we want folks to be Safe a As Safe As they can  the Federal centers for disease control and prevention estimates that it costs $2.1 billion a year to treat More than 1.7 million injuries from sliding into bases the Institute said. A decade of research by Institute members finds that sliding accounts for most injuries on the Diamond according to Janda an orthopaedic surgeon. In an Ann Arbor study some 70 percent of All injuries were from slides he said. When half the Fields were converted to breakaway bases and about 630 games were played on each Type Over two years 45 people were injured on the stationary bases compared with two on the breakaways. Nonetheless Only 5 percent of american bal Fields have breakaway bases Janda said. One major reason is Cost Janda said. At about $400, a set of breakaway bases costs about twice As much As stationary bases. The insurance Industry could a but does no to encourage breakaway use by giving Premium reductions to institutions that use bases which Causa fewer injuries he said. Also some a sorts directors think it would delay the game to have to reposition a base after a slide Janda said. The doctor does no to think much of this argument however Quot if you want to hold up a game have someone break an  a major base manufacturer however thinks the Lack of demand for breakaways is telling. Quot when the Public does t accept something to me that s the Best proof of whether the product  said Gariy Mcnabb an official of Adams Usa inc. In Cookeville Tenn. Buyers who should know such As major league baseball equipment managers Don t like breakaways Mcnabb said. One key Issue is variability in the Force it takes to snap a breakaway base from its mooring Mcnabb said adding you never know How a breakaway base is going to  this makes it hard for a base runner to count on the base staying under his foot he said. Stationary bases Are Safe if they Are installed properly with the edges under the dirt so a sliding players foot can to get caught underneath he added. Another problem is that Many players can to or Don t a slide properly Mcnabb said. With that Janda agrees. He backs breakaway bases because he could not interest the Ann Arbor players in taking lessons on How to slide right. Monday May 30,1994 the stars and stripes